62. Q: Can you please tell us more about meditation and how it can help in losing our ego.

Yes, but let me first tell you how and why meditation techniques came into being.

Man, ever since his creation, has wondered about and researched what it is that has created this beautiful universe; what it is that has created this beautiful earth and rolled it into space; what it is that makes the rivers flow and the mountains grow. He concluded that there is a force or energy that is conducting all this. He concluded that there was some tremendous energy that is running the whole show. He then started wondering about how to establish a connection with that energy.

The first people to come to this conclusion, and do research and establish a connection with this energy, were the rishis or realised souls or enlightened masters. Once they attained enlightenment, they created many ways for future generations also to realize this energy. The ways that each of them gave are the various meditation techniques and religions.

Each of them realized God through a different way, through a different technique, and recorded their way independently. This is just like how scientists create research reports on their discoveries and inventions. Each rishi gave a report on his enlightenment and this became a religion or a meditation technique.

These early realized souls formed different religions to establish these ideas on the life force that is conducting this world. We call this life force Jesus, Allah, Shiva and so on. You don't even have to believe in any God. Atheists don't believe in any God, but they have to believe in their own existence, is it not? If we believe in our own existence and search for an answer to the question 'Who am I?' that becomes a meditation technique, and we can realize God. Anyhow, these different ways or meditation techniques became different religions over time.

But what happened after that? People left this basic idea behind all the religions and started fighting in the name of religion.

A small story:

A Tamilian, an Englishman, a North Indian and a Bengali were traveling together.

They saw a lake from a distance.

The Tamilian saw it from the south and called it thanneer, which is the Tamil word for water.

The Englishman saw it from the west and called it 'water'. The North Indian saw it from the north and called it 'paani'.

The Bengali saw it from the east and called it 'jal'.

All four of them were referring to the same thing, 'water'. But they started fighting over it saying that what each of them was saying was the correct thing.

None of the four people attempted to get into the lake and see for themselves what water exactly is. The Tamilian was holding on to what his grandfather told him; the Englishman claimed that his grandfather told him it was 'water'; the North Indian and the Bengali were also clinging onto what their respective grandfathers had told them.

They landed up fighting without even attempting to drink a mouthful and see.

This is exactly what we are doing also. People who fight over religion are doing the same thing. They have to understand that from whatever angle the early-realized souls saw, from that angle they named it; but everything is one – Existence or God. Krishna and Christ mean the same. People have seen them from different angles, that's all.

These four people, without getting into the lake, are arguing about what their forefathers told them! What will happen? They will only fight because each of them thinks that what their forefathers said was right. If they decided to put aside what their grandfathers said and get into the lake and see for themselves, they would understand that all their grandfathers meant the same thing! Then there would be no fight.

Today, only those who have not got into the lake and had a mouthful of water are fighting. Those who are spreading terrorism in the name of religion are those who have not got into the lake called spirituality and tasted the truth. The four people who are fighting are simply standing on the shore and fighting. So understand that the truth is expressed in various forms, that's all.

Coming back to meditation, simply put, meditation is allowing your mind to relax, that's all. Meditation is not concentration. When you concentrate, you actually try to exclude everything from your mind, which is an impossible task.

Just sit for two minutes and try to exclude everything from your mind; you will go mad! Every single thing that you try to exclude will come back and torture you. So concentration is not meditation. Meditation is simply including everything and relaxing.

Whenever you find time, just relax and be aware of everything around you. Listen with your heart to all the sounds happening around you. It may be the sound of birds, the sound of the calendar in the breeze, the sound of the fan above you, the sound of people around you, or whatever. Just listen with an open heart. Mind you, they are all not distractions. You are flowing with them and so they are not distractions. When you flow with them, they cease to be distractions.

As you do this, you will realize that there is a certain silence, a composite core inside, that is actually witnessing all this. You will become more and more aware of that silence inside you. You will get glimpses of that silence in you.

Slowly, you will lose consciousness of your body also. You will only have awareness. You will feel yourself only through your awareness, not through your body or through your mind.

Meditation will help you realize that you are only a watcher in life. It will help you center yourself well inside your being and carry on with your outer world tasks much more efficiently and blissfully because you will be carrying an inner silence in you that does not allow you to get distracted or perturbed by anything. If you continue doing this, you start leaving the 'I' and 'mine'. Your ego dissolves. Your ego is nothing but the strong feeling and identity that you have about your mind and body.

Why do you think we are trying to create a worldwide movement for meditation? Meditation is the only key to global peace. When you start looking inward, you are no more distracted by the outer world distractions like power, money, vengeance etc. All your base energies will get transformed into higher spiritual energies. The collective consciousness will undergo a shift and automatically peace will prevail.

That is why I am focusing on transformation of individuals. When a set of individuals gets transformed with an experiential understanding, they will in turn inspire others from their own experience and this will continue to create a positive new mental set-up in society.

Unless your understanding becomes an experience, transformation is not possible. Meditation can make your understanding an experience. Meditation is the only hope for transformation of the individual and therefore transformation of humanity.

When you meditate, your intelligence grows. You start getting clarity on all issues. You no more need to ask people for alternatives. You simply know, that's all. You know because you are so much in tune with your inner intelligence. You know that it cannot be wrong.

You will know from your being that you are on the right track. There may be moments when the going gets tough, because you are against the majority, but you will know that the outcome is going to be beautiful and liberating! All you need to do is persevere and have deep faith in your own intelligence.

When you nurture yourself with meditation, your capacity will expand and you will be able to do so many things in the outer world. There will be no limit to what you can do and express. You will find yourself growing in different dimensions.

Anything will come easily to you when you are functioning with your inner intelligence and not with your ego. When anything becomes tough for you, it is only because your ego is making you alienate yourself from that thing. When you lose yourself and start merging with Existence, nothing will be complicated; you will simply flow. Your intelligence will automatically work for you to harness the Existential energy in you.

You will start seeing yourself as a miracle person! Things which seemed beyond you will suddenly become seamless. You will move from ignorance to deep awareness.

Q: When we are in deep dreamless sleep and when we are in real meditation, are we in the same no-mind state?

No. In deep sleep, you go to the level of the seed and come back to the state you were in before going to sleep. No growth happens in you. When you are in real meditation, you go to the level of the seed, the seed ruptures and you move on to the next higher state. That is the difference. They are two extremes. Of course, when you look from outside, extremes always look alike. A madman looks like a mystic and a mystic looks like a madman! Both of them have lost their minds but in different directions.

Q: How is it that you are so beautiful always!

(Swamiji laughs!)

Yes, this is an interesting question! How do I appear beautiful always!

You see: If it was only this form of mine that you find beautiful, that you are being pulled to, the pull would waver with time. It would waver with situations, attire and what not. Just think: You see me in the same attire, listen to the same songs, hear the same voice everyday and yet you are here with as much eagerness as ever. Do you think you would be able to continue like this with anyone else in your life? Understand that it is not the person, it is the presence that radiates the beauty that you feel.

As far as you are concerned, you are a person. As far as I am concerned, I am simply a presence, that's all. The egoless presence is so powerful that it simply lures you. There are so many male models and actors who are so good-looking with a much better personality, am I right? With all of them, you might be attracted, but not with a longing from deep within, like in this case, am I right?

Here, the longing is from your being, because your being sees the divinity behind the form. It is the only concern of your being. The egoless presence is ecstatic for your being. That is why you come here again and again!

You see: The longing to feel God is in the depths of every man, but it is not tangible! When you see me, you feel a pull and wonder what that pull is. That pull is the call of your being. But you immediately start thinking what it might be; you know only to apply your mind and reduce everything to logic. God is beyond logic. That is why you cannot explain with your logic why you feel a pull to come here.

All of you simply sit here gaping and wondering what it is that makes you look for hours, without batting an eyelid. When the longing within is deep, this will happen. The longing is the longing to reach home. For many lives you have tried to fulfill this longing but have been unsuccessful and so you come back again; you take another birth.

When you feel this longing, some of you pursue it and start your journey inwards while some of you get scared and escape! Or you linger in the outer circles and keep watching so that if anything happens, you can easily run away altogether! I have to then cheat you and teach you and show you that you have arrived and that there is nothing more to be done except letting go – of your ego!

You always operate from fear because you have been taught that way. Fear is a passive form of ego. You are so afraid that you might give in and so you maintain a distance under the guise of fear. Don't think that fear is something humbling. Fear is a very deceptive form of ego. You are so afraid to let go. You are so afraid that you might dissolve.

Understand that Existence is love. It is only love and nothing else. Also, Existence knows you because you are a part of it. If Existence doesn't know you then who does? So there is nothing to fear.

You don't have to put on any pretensions with Existence. You can just be your own ordinary self and Existence will continue to shower on you. Existence knows only to love and forgive. It does not know any other virtue. You judge Existence by your own egoistic and so-called moral standards; that is the problem,

When you know you are part of Existence, you will feel liberated. When you think that you are separate from Existence, you will fall into misery. You know, it is such a great feeling being a part of Existence! Because of your ego, you feel you are different from Existence.

When you turn your journey inwards, you will become increasingly aware that you are a part of Existence. Awareness will slowly replace ego. When awareness takes over, ego has to dissolve. There is no other way. Until awareness takes over, you will feel you are a solid entity and disconnect yourself completely from Existence.

Actually, the whole sky is there for you to see. But you see it through your window, just how much your ego allows you to see, and you think that the sky inside the frame is the real sky. All such games are nothing but games of the ego. Being aware of this is the first step towards getting out of it. Awareness is the master key with which you can open any lock inside yourself. That is why again and again I say, bring in awareness.

Q: Swamiji**, how would you describe your concern for us?**

My only concern for you is to help you to flower. That is the greatest thing that I can do for you and you can do for me! I want people to realize their innate bliss, their infinite potential energy. Right now, man thinks that he is a human being looking for spiritual experience. He needs to understand clearly that he is a spiritual being looking for human experience. I am working on teaching him that.

And the only way he can learn it is by becoming aware of the forms of ego that are making him feel he is a human being instead of a spiritual being. When man moves from praying to becoming, he has found the key.

Q: How does the transformation happen when one meditates? And can you tell us more about the role of the master?

When a person meditates, all his base emotions like anger, lust, jealousy, over-attachment etc. get transformed into higher energy. This propels him into higher realms of consciousness and awareness. Then, he will not be restless like before. Transformation of energy can happen only through meditation.

When this transformation happens in every individual, the whole of society gets transformed. There will be less violence and more global harmony. The most practical way to global peace is through transformation of the individual.

With meditation and the master's guidance, transformation is a process that you go through to destroy all that is not you. It is a painful process that you go through with a master, because you have to let go of all the things that you held close to your heart; all the things that you thought was you.

The master will continuously show you what all you are not and everything will start dropping. He will create situations for your suppressed feelings to surface. You just need to allow him to work on you so that he removes all that you have accumulated over many lives.

I keep telling people: If you try to run away, you are missing the master one more time. Don't try to escape. I will place my hands exactly on the tumours that are hidden inside, the tumours that are your ego. Simply place your faith in me and have the courage to open up. I will then be able to heal all your tumours. Just by opening up to the master, half your ego has left you. The rest, he will take care of. You just need to put out your hand; he will lift you out, that's all.

When you are a sincere seeker, when you are ready for a transformation, you will open up to the master and things will happen automatically. If you are just a window shopper, then nothing much can happen; you will just move from one master to another and not learn anything from any of them.

When you meditate, meditate intensely. When intensity is there along with meditation, the transformation is bound to happen; the super consciousness is bound to happen. Normally, we are either intense and miss the meditation or meditate without intensity. We catch one and miss the other. We need to catch both in order to really flower.

It doesn't matter how long you meditate; how intensely you meditate is what matters. The quality of consciousness is what matters. When you make a conscious decision to turn inward, that itself will give you the intensity to meditate.